Kansas City Wizards to Partner with Sprint on Event Tuesday, Game Against Chicago Fire, Mexican International Cuahtemoc Blanco Wednesday
The Wizards and local wireless provider Sprint are teaming up on two events directed toward the local Latino community Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday from 4-6 p.m. CT, the Wizards will be at the Sprint AZ Tech store at 723 Southwest Boulevard with radio partners La Gran D 1340 and La Playa 1480.
Starting 11 Girls, Wizards players and radio station personnel will be present as Sprint hosts a festive event complete with music, food and great deals on wireless phones.
Wednesday, Sprint will serve as the presenting sponsor of the match against Mexican international Cuahtemoc Blanco, Costa Rican international Paulo Wanchope and the Chicago Fire. The game, scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and broadcast live on Metro Sports (English; TWC 30) and the Around Town Channel (Español; TWC 5), will be the second matchup between the two squads this year and contain playoff ramifications in the highly competitive Eastern Conference.
Sprint officials will be part of pre-game festivities, including the ceremonial coin toss and will have an interactive booth at Soccer Celebration prior to the match with contests and prizes for fans.
Kansas City Wizards Host Chicago Fire Wednesday, Travel to Chicago for Return Match Saturday
The Kansas City Wizards are in the midst of a five-game in 13-days stretch that will see the squad take on the Chicago Fire twice in the next six days. First, the Wizards host the Fire Wednesday on the last Gail's Harley Davidson T-Shirt Wednesday. The game, presented by Sprint, will be broadcast live on Metro Sports (English; TWC 30) and the Around Town Channel (Español; TWC 5) and feature Mexican star Cuahtemoc Blanco and Costa Rican striker Paulo Wanchope.
Chicago topped Kansas City 2-1 in the first meeting between the squads this season. Saturday's match, 7:30 p.m. CT on TWC 5 (English) and TWC 20 (Español), will be the final regular-season meeting between the clubs this season.
The first-ever broadcast of a Wizards match en Español was given high marks by the Latino community. The Wizards, Time Warner Cable Kansas City and Reyes Media Group all received compliments for the program that debuted Sunday and are looking forward to the coming six games broadcast en vivo en Español.
The Jimmy Conrad Show Will Not be Broadcast Until September 5
The Jimmy Conrad Show, your choice for weekly Wizards news and talk, will not be broadcast for the next two weeks due to matches scheduled for each day. The show, normally broadcast live at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN Radio 97.3, will resume again September 5.
Catch the show on 97.3 FM or streamed live at kcwizards.com.
Wizards Weekly on Metro Sports This Week
Wizards Weekly, the official Kansas City Wizards weekly highlight show, broadcast on Metro Sports Thursday at 11:30 p.m., Friday at 4 p.m. and again Saturday at 11:30 a.m., will feature Head Coach Curt Onalfo and rookie midfielder Kurt Morsink.
Onalfo and show host Brad Porter will discuss the upcoming match-ups with the resurgent Chicago Fire and their pair of international stars Cuahtemoc Blanco and Paulo Wanchope. Morsink, one of the first substitutes off the Wizards bench for much of the 2007 season, will share his experiences as a rookie in Major League Soccer.
Wizards Team With Community Blood Center for Week-long Blood Drive
The Wizards and CBC are holding a series of events through Friday in order to raise awareness for the CBC through the efforts of the Kansas City Wizards players and staff. The weeklong drive will take place at nine different CBC locations and be highlighted by Wizards Day at the main CBC location at 4040 Main on Tuesday.
The drive, identified by the slogan "The Goal - Save a life. Right Here, Right Now.", represents one of the Wizards main community outreach efforts of 2007. It marks the first time the two organizations have partnered on a program so extensive and beneficial to the community at large.
Appearances scheduled during drive
Who: Mascot Dynamo the Dragon
When: Tuesday, August 21; 12:00-1:30 p.m.
Where: Community Blood Center, 4040 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
What: Make sure to stop by one of the nine Kansas City Community Blood Centers this week for the Kansas City Wizards blood drive, going on August 20-24. Come see Dynamo in the early afternoon. Each donor receives a T-shirt and two free tickets to a Kansas City Wizards home game.
Who: Coach Curt Onalfo, Wizards Players, Starting 11 Girls
When: Tuesday, August 21; 3:00-6:00 p.m.
Where: Community Blood Center, 4040 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
What: Make sure to stop by one of the nine Kansas City Community Blood Centers this week for the Kansas City Wizards blood drive, going on August 20-24. Come see Head Coach Curt Onalfo, some of your favorite Wizards players, and the Starting 11 girls. Each donor receives a T-shirt and two free tickets to a Kansas City Wizards home game.
Who: Mascot Dynamo the Dragon
When: Friday, August 24; 12:00-1:30 p.m.
Where: Community Blood Center, 10568 Metcalf, Overland Park, KS
What: Make sure to stop by one of the nine Kansas City Community Blood Centers this week for the Kansas City Wizards blood drive, going on August 20-24. Come see Dynamo in the early afternoon. Each donor receives a T-shirt and two free tickets to a Kansas City Wizards home game.
Lance Watson to Sign Autographs Before Wednesday's Match Against Chicago
Who: M-D Lance Watson
When: Wednesday, August 22; 6:00-6:30 p.m.
Where: Arrowhead Stadium, 1 Arrowhead Drive, Kansas City, MO
What: Join Kansas City Wizard player Lance Watson on Soccer Celebration outside of Arrowhead Stadium before the game against Chicago. Watson will be signing autographs for fans at the Fan Information booth. Make sure to stop by.
Ryan Pore, Will John to Play Bartenders Thursday at The Yardhouse in KCK
Who: F Ryan Pore, M-F Will John
When: Thursday, August 23; 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Where: The Yardhouse, 1843 Village West Parkway, Kansas City, KS
What: Join the Kansas City Wizards players for great food and great drinks at The Yardhouse in the Legends Shopping Center. The players will be bartending, meeting new people in the Kansas City community, and helping raise money for the Kansas City Soccer Foundation.
Kansas City Wizards Training Schedule
Tuesday, August 21
: Training 10 a.m.
Wednesday, August 22
: Kansas City Wizards vs. Chicago Fire 7 p.m. CT at Arrowhead Stadium
Thursday, August 23
: Off
Friday, August 24
: Training 10 a.m.
Saturday, August 25
: Kansas City Wizards at Chicago Fire 7:30 p.m. CT on TWC 5 (English), TWC 20 (Español)
*All training sessions are held at the new Swope Park training facility off of 63rd and Lewis. Practice times are subject to change. Please call Sarah Hardy at 816-665-8442 to confirm.
Tidbits From Last Match Against New England
• Following the match, Kansas City sits 8-6-5 (29 pts.) in 2nd place in the competitive Eastern Conference, four points behind New England.
• Kansas City is now 3-3-3 on the road and 3-6-2 when allowing the first goal.
• New England beat Kansas City at home for the first time since 1999, a span of 11 matches.
• Kansas City is now 7-1-4 in their last 12 trips to Massachusetts and 5-1-4 all-time at Gillette Stadium.
• Kansas City is now 15-9-7 all-time against New England and 8-4-4 all-time on the road.
• Revolution Head Coach Steve Nicol improved to 3-7-7 in his career against Kansas City.
• The loss ended a four game unbeaten streak for the Wizards (2-0-2) that began July 7.
• Kansas City won the first match of the season series 4-3 at Gillette on May 26 behind a three-goal performance by star striker Eddie Johnson. It was Johnson's first hat trick of the season.
• Johnson went on to record a hat trick in the next match, a 3-2 win over New York June 2 to become the first player in MLS history to record back-to-back hat tricks.
• He is now the Wizards all-time leader in hat tricks recorded (2).
• Jack Jewsbury played in his 100th career MLS match. All have been with the Wizards.
• Sasha Victorine played his 201st career MLS match Thursday. Victorine's first 121 matches came with the Los Angeles Galaxy where he was a teammate to current Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman. Victorine remains 10th on the Galaxy's all-time games played list
• Victorine was traded to Kansas City prior to the 2005 season and has now played 80 matches for the Wizards over the last three years.
• New England's stoppage-time goal gave them a 2-goal win. Kansas City had not lost a match by more than one goal through the first 18 games of 2007. The Wizards are 6-5-0 in one-goal matches.
• The Wizards last 14 games had been decided by one goal or less.
• Kevin Hartman, facing former Los Angeles Galaxy teammate Matt Reis in goal, made his most saves as a member of the Wizards.
• Hartman and Reis teamed up in the 2007 MLS All-Star game to shutout Scottish power Celtic FC.
• With eight saves on the night, Hartman now has 971 career saves, good for 3rd in the history of Major League Soccer.
• With two goals, the Revolution overtook Kansas City as the team with the most goals in MLS. The Revs now have 33. Kansas City remains on 32.
